Google is on an update spree for most of its apps, probably getting everything as ready as it could before the end of the year holidays. An update to Google+ rolled out yesterday, bringing the app up to version 6.9 and updating the look of the Notifications tab.

Previously, this tab was a slide-out from the right side of the screen, and it only covered about three quarters letting other content show beneath it. But when version 6.8 of the app was released with a new interface and notifications were moved to the bottom tab bar, it made little sense that they would keep their truncated look. With version 6.9, notifications get the full tab treatment that they deserve with a bright red primary toolbar, an updated mark all icon, and a wider column to read the notification's content.

Left: Before. Right: Now.

That's the only visual change we can spot right now. We're still looking through the new app and will let you know if we find something else. If the update isn't live for you in the Play Store you can grab the installation file from the source below and manually run it to check it out.

Comments

I've been waiting for G+ to allow us to select the types of notifications shown there. I don't need to see every +1 or follow, damnit!

catalysto

Yes. Really wish we could customize the notifications somehow. Anything that isn't a comment or mention or invite is useless to me. And trying to find an old notification is a nightmare.

FlutterRage

The missing swipe-out killed the usability for me. The notification icon is in a really inconvenient to reach place.

Matthew Wheeler

Totally.. I mean, right there in the open on the screen.

FlutterRage

Yeah, funny. No, seriously, I need to reposition the phone to get my thumb to that symbol. I find it easier to reach the top left than the bottom right on my Nexus 5.

siveZ

Not a big deal for 6P used by left-handers like me: both places are barely reachable.

Luigi Notaro

I still can't believe the bottom app navigation just above the system wide navigation.

ashjas

Give me a way to get rid of the bottom bar... Google. It consumes a lot of viewing area...
I think this ux resembles the first version of g+.. So what's the role of so much innovation when it has returned to something that consumes so much viewing area at all times... Why not put it in the left slide menu?

Тарас Мукин

Can somebody explain to me what am I doing wrong with G+? I tried to make G+ a good source of IT and android-specific news or discussions by joining some groups and collections. But my newsline is just a mess after this. I see every single post everybody makes in a group -- and 99% of this is a crap. I missed every single important piece of news behind millions of "look at mt desktop". And I'm asking seriously -- what am I doing wrong? Who should I subscribe, who shouldn't, which groups are good and which are crap. And how to live with thousands of identical bug posts from all beta groups I am in -- I just don't need to see them THIS much every single time I open G+

TL;DR: Provide us with some how-to and start tutorial for G+, AP, please.

catalysto

Look for better Communities. Or try to find a well-curated news Collection.

The options for what shows up in your main feed are quite expansive, you should try Googling for a guide or something because there's a lot you can do to improve your problem.

Jeffrey Heesch

Anybody who doesn't hate this has never tried to use it on a tablet. Especially in landscape. Now, rather than consuming just a little bar on the right, it takes up the whole freaking screen. It looks awful.

Sadly, all content is like this outside of the home feed. If I tap on a post it stretches every bit of content to fill the width of the screen. Every picture. Every sentence. Google developers are capable of centering content so it looks good when scaled to any screen size. Things look fine on Play Magazines however your device is oriented because it intelligently adjusts the way content is displayed. They should do it like this on Google+, too. And when it detects you're on a tablet in landscape, it would look so much better to put the post content on the left side of the screen and the comments on the right. Or anything but how it's handled now.

And that big, gray bar that consumes a bunch of space? That either needs to hide itself while you're scrolling down through your feed or a post, or they need to move all that into the hamburger menu.

I see what you're saying, but the problem you're describing is really caused by them being lazy with their tablet layout. The decision makes perfect sense for a phone layout, which I imagine accounts for 99%* of their users.